mankind's purpose

God Gave Mankind a Purpose15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2: 15-17).

God gives Adam three instructions for life in the garden:

tend and keep it

of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but

of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat

We have already touched on the contrast between the commands in Genesis 1:28 to "subdue (the earth) and have dominion...over every living thing that moves." In the transition from chaos to the order of Creation, mankind is to play a role.In Gen. 2:15, the Hebrew word for "till" and "tend" is the same word, 5647, "abad; a primitive root; to work (in any sense); by implication to serve...labor...(become) servant..." This word gives a very clear sense of working as a servant.

The Hebrew word for dominion is H7287, rahah, primitive root; to tread down, that is, subjugate;...have dominion, reign, rule, (over)....".We can understand this better if we look at the primitive root as to walk among rather than to tread down. We see mankind as a part of Creation, dependent on the life of the earth for their own survival.

In Genesis 1:29, God states "every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food."The tree of knowledge of good and evil was in the midst of all the other trees of the garden. God had clearly identified the tree so that no mistake was possible as to which tree to avoid.

This tree also bore fruit, but we know nothing of the physical produce of this tree. What we do know of this tree is stated very clearly in its name, a knowledge of good and evil.Simply put, these are the fruits that it bore:

Obedience to Godis knowledge of the good;

Disobedience to God is knowledge of the evil.

"Good" was the default setting. Mankind had to actually make a choice to change the setting to "good and evil."There is little to be gained from exploring this issue more closely. The exact nature of the physical fruit is irrelevant. The issue is obedience, and obedience is an expression of the true understanding of the relationship between the created and the Creator.

Another way to express these fruits is in terms of blessings and curses.

Obedience to God's command will yield blessings.

Disobedience to God's commands will yield curses.

There are consequences for both obedience and disobedience. God does not have to actively initiate the blessings or the curses. They are built into the fabric of the universe.

God has dominion, and the nature of man's role is clearly stated - servant. Jesus frequently emphasizes our purpose in the many parables on servants, e.g., the parables of the two sons (Matt. 21:28-32) and of the faithful servant and the evil servant (Matt. 24:45-51), and so many more. Jesus even said that He came to serve (Matt. 20:28).​At this point in the Genesis narrative, everything is still "very good." Adam knows what is good, although he might not appreciate "good" without the understanding of "evil." Adam has a purpose, and he knows his purpose. Adam has everything he needs - almost.Next article